Worrisome Oil Report

[Harpua]

I posted this in the Oil Analysis Reports, but I thought it may get lost in the thread as it's getting quite long at the moment. I'd appreciate members' opinion on the recent lead spike and elevated iron, but without any rise in copper. Here's what I wrote in the Oil Reports thread:

"Just got my latest report back, and it's not great news
Despite zero track time and mostly higway/backroad cruising, my lead is up to 20 and iron up to 17. However, the copper remains low at 2.
I did run this interval significantly longer than last time (12.8k km vs 9k) and it was summertime so there was definitely more spirited driving, but never any launches, drag racing or other silliness.
Could this be a particle streak? Is it time to start shopping for bearings?

My plan (as of the moment) is to wait for another report after about 7-9k km and see if the trend continues."

Note -- My numbers are in km, not miles. Most recent interval was approx 8k miles. Previous was 5.6k miles. Total miles on car approx 64K.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by Harpua

Could this be a particle streak? Is it time to start shopping for bearings?

My plan (as of the moment) is to wait for another report after about 7-9k km and see if the trend continues."

There is now way of knowing whether the elevated metals are down to your use of Mobil 1 or would have happened anyway (with 10W60). The low copper is at least somewhat reassuring.
I tend to agree with your plan to take another sample in 5k miles time and see how things look.

[gatorfast]

Agreed on a shortened interval and re-check at another 4-5k miles. Hopefully the next report will come back better. But just for some comfort, 20ppm of lead is nowhere near the levels that we have seen when bearing failure is imminent.

[Killerfish2012]

Your oil change intervals for M1 0W40 is too high. You live in canada, so you'll benefit from better cold starts, but I wouldn't dream of taking this oil to 8K miles like you did, without changing it. Stick to 5.5K mile intervals like you did in the previous sample set, and you'll be fine. Thanks for sharing. This information is very valuable.

[Harpua]

Originally Posted by Killerfish2012

You're oil change intervals for M1 0W40 is too high. You live in canada, so you'll benefit from better cold starts, but I wouldn't dream of taking this oil to 8K miles like you did, without changing it. Stick to 5.5K mile intervals like you did in the previous sample set, and you'll be fine. Thanks for sharing. This information is very valuable.

Yes, it wasn't my plan to run it as long as I did. Life simply kept getting in the way. This, plus a few unplanned extended road trips later and suddenly I'm >2k km beyond my regular schedule.

It will be very interesting to see how the next analysis shapes up after a shorter change interval. I agree -- It will be valuable data. I'd prefer that I wasn't the guinea pig, though

[apecush]

To everybody saying "shorten your intervals and your lead level will come down", this is a logical fallacy. If the generation of lead particles is time-dependent, shortening intervals may show lower PPM numbers on analysis reports, but it means little with respect to the rate of actual wear (loss of lead from the bearings). Viscosity still in an acceptable range and a TBN of 6.1 indicates that your oil still has plenty of life left - i.e. lead generation had nothing to do with the "wearing out" of the oil.

[///M Power-Belgium]

It's not the first case showing elevated metals when using M1 .
And that's why I'll stick with EDGE !